Social Media Sites: Agencies to keep constant watch Staff Correspondent
The government agencies will soon start monitoring social media sites, including Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, round-the-clock to check any smear campaign ahead of the December 30 parliamentary election. The Election Commission made the decision yesterday during a meeting with the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission and mobile operators. Election Commission Secretary Helal Uddin Ahmed disclosed the matter while talking to reporters after the meeting at the Nirbachan Bhaban in the capital's Agargaon. “They [different government agencies] assured us of monitoring social media sites after we asked them to do so for preventing propaganda. BTRC, NTMC [National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre] and cyber crimes unit will keep a watch on the social media sites 24 hours a day,” he said. The EC secretary said the move was aimed at checking smear campaigns that can foil the election. “Anyone involved in such acts would face legal actions.” Asked, he said they could no